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Those Americans are just bitter about the war of 1812 and our burning of the White House. Never forgiven us for it and that's why they hate the AZ vaccine...

(India has every right to bear some anti-UK grudges based on UK actions in living memory)

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So we've now alienated everyone else in the world, even our closest neighbours. Bodes well for the future.
China now feels they can bully us too, without any meaningful consequence.
Scotland wants to leave.
Ireland will be reunited in the not too distant future.
Very little England with no friends. .

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Who needs enemies with friends like that :D

Apparently UFO sightings are down too, so we've somehow upset the aliens also :p:

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A point of information: the EU hasn't sent us a sausage. A company which has directly contracted with the UK government has begun fulfilling that contract by sending vaccines here, from its factory in Belgium. There is no EU largesse here, unless of course we are to understand that the ability of any business to export its products is a privilege to be bestowed or withdrawn on a whim.

The 'but we're exporting more than anyone' line is a piece of PR smoke-and-mirrors, an attempt by the European Commission to both have its cake and eat it. It can't simultaneously claim that its problem with AstraZeneca is with the company, not the UK, while at the same time claiming credit for the vaccine exports of other companies.

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I think Andrews argument is that the EU has the power to ban exports if it wanted to but to this stage has not. India is starting to restrict exports already and the USA has a virtual ban in exports already. However, this doesn't seem to raise the same levels of ire...

Re: Coronavirus
 

Exactly.

People seem angrier with a bloc of countries that has sent us 21m vaccines and has no export ban in place than with countries that have imposed export bans and in the case of the USA, have sent us no vaccines at all!

It doesn't seem entirely logical.

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As usual, posters on here have to be pedantic to the extreme. Seph is right, I was referring to EU goods such as French cheese, etc. I do not have the time or the inclination to investigate whether there is a tiny EU component in every product I buy.

If everyone who was annoyed with EU shenanigans boycotted products that were clearly and unambiguously made in the EU, this would have a significant impact on their economies that might just make them think again.

After all, we are only looking for a friendly trading arrangement with the EU, but outside the EU. There is absolutely no need for this hostility.

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Again, I’m going to insist on correct terminology here because it makes a difference.

No bloc of countries has sent us a single vaccine. A drug company has done so, from its manufacturing site in Belgium. That’s important, because the EU is trying to defend its export control plans based on a completely bogus appeal to reciprocity (this week, at least, it’s reciprocity between nations - last week it was all to do with extra-judicial punishment of manufacturers the EU claimed had failed to fulfil contract).

Vaccine export is a matter of foreign policy when it suits them, and a matter of contract law, likewise, when it suits them. Their position is fundamentally dishonest. Either they have an emergency, and are invoking emergency controls, or they aren’t.

The positions in the United States and in India are, conversely, very clear. The USA invoked emergency legislation to prevent all exports. We knew from very early on they were likely to do this, which is why Oxford’s naive attempt to tie up with Merck, which would have manufactured in the US, was overruled by the UK government in favour of AstraZeneca.

India, likewise, isn’t farting around trying to pretend it’s doing something other than what it is. It, too, is invoking emergency powers to ensure the spreading pandemic in India is addressed quickly. Frankly I think they are quite right to do so. I wouldn’t feel too great about receiving a vaccine manufactured in India as it can do a whole lot more good over there.

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Good news for vaccine production in Europe.

EMA has approved the Halix plant that manufactures the AstraZeneca vaccine in the Netherlands and a new BioNTech site in the German town of Marburg which the company acquired from Novartis in September. The latter site will produce up to 1bn doses per year once it reaches full capacity in the next few months.

EMA is also allowing the Pfizer vaccine to be transported at normal freezer temperatures for a one-off period of two weeks to help speed up the roll-out.

https://www.ft.com/content/5673962a-...7-ee280e5022fa

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The irony is overwhelming...:D

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yet another paywall


will it ever reach full capacity is the question.

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1 Billion doses per year - just from one site - suggests Covid isn't going away any time soon, therefore I'm assuming (I know lol ) that we'll all be getting vaccinated at least once a year . . .

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So it looks like I wasn't the only person here to fail my degree in mind reading. You on the other hand have shown you passed your goal post moving course with honours ;);)